Literary Agent
Petra Baillie Author @PetraBaillie
@annmrose How often does an agent pick up a MS based on their gut instinct and love for the story over potential to sell?It can happen. I’m not sure how often but we will find passion projects that we will fight to the ends of the earth for ❤️
Literary Agent
Ilya Ellis is querying 🏳️🌈 @ilyaellis1
@annmrose Do you have a maybe pile for your queries? If you do what turns those maybes into a request?I do. And a maybe for me is—I need to come back and take a deeper/longer look at this when I have time.
Turning it into a request would just be that it is as awesome as I was hoping it would be—which isn’t very helpful I know ❤️
Literary Agent
Autumn is 17k in Black Diary of a Wimpy Kid 🤓 @autumnwritesya
@annmrose If I want to query a MG novel I think would work very well as a GN…how would I word that in a query?Are you trying to sell a prose novel or a GN script?
If it’s a prose novel then I wouldn’t worry about what other formats it could be good in since this is the format you are currently trying to sell in, if that makes sense.
Literary Agent
Autumn is 17k in Black Diary of a Wimpy Kid 🤓 @autumnwritesya
@annmrose If I want to query a MG novel I think would work very well as a GN…how would I word that in a query?Are you trying to sell a prose novel or a GN script?
If it’s a prose novel then I wouldn’t worry about what other formats it could be good in since this is the format you are currently trying to sell in, if that makes sense.
Literary Agent
Laura Author of ALIANA reaches for the moon💙 📚🌙 @ljrwritenow
@annmrose I was tutoring my GED student about earth science crust/mantle/core while you were on the elliptical. Here’s a rhetorical question, which is more mind numbing?Actual question 🙋🏼♀️ What do you NEED in the first ten pages?
The 1st ten pages of the MS should introduce us to the MC and their world and start building up to the inciting incident.
Also remember, start with agency not necessarily “action”
Literary Agent
M. Patrice @callmpg
@annmrose If a book is self-published with limited sales, can the author retire the ISBN, revise the manuscript, rename the book, and offer it to an agent as "new?"There would have to be a considerable amount of work done for this to be a “new project”
It might be better to just work on the next new thing instead
Literary Agent
John Evans @roninmercllc
@annmrose Why does it seem like Agents hate to read? In the past two months, I have seen a dozen agents on Twitter say that they will autoreject MS with a high word count, despite the fact they are the ones who request a certain amount of pages. If you ask for 10 pages that's 2500-5000wrdsUnless I’m not understanding your question, rejecting based on high word count means word count for the entire project itself not the sample pages. So yes, if you send them a 200k word MG they will likely just auto reject.
Literary Agent
Erin Giannini @ErinAries74
@annmrose Is it bad form to send queries to agents at agencies where one of their coworkers already passed?As long as they don’t have a no from one is a no for all policy it’s totally fine to do
Literary Agent
n; shrimp @ntl_enty
@annmrose If I see on an agent's timeline they skipped my query but dealt with all the ones around it, am I in trouble or can I have hope? Asking for a friend.Have hope. There are many reasons this could’ve happened. So no reason to dread or make assumptions. ❤️
Tell your friend not to worry 😉
Literary Agent
Gail Notestine @gail_notestine
@annmrose I have a self-published MG series that I have been told would make a great kids TV series. Would a book agent handle that?Book agents have connections to film agents and some have direct connections to the film industry but since your book is already published a book agent likely won’t be interested unless it has massive sales. You’d likely want to try and find a film agent at this point
Literary Agent
rob is revising @robinspncr
@annmrose Hiii Ann👀 I’m revising a lower YA fantasy, but I have heard it’s not very popular. I feel like most authors are writing upper YA because it’s more comercial. What are you thoughts?thank you for your time and happy elipticalling!!💞💞
I think all ages need books ❤️
Literary Agent
Kit Bowman is querying YA Fantasy! @kit_bowman
@annmrose What are you most looking for in a synopsis?The overall story and character arc. So hit the major plot points and spoil the hell out of it.
Literary Agent
Savannah Carlisle @SavvyCarlisle
@annmrose What's a reasonable amount of time to give agents who have your full once you get an offer? I feel like I've heard two weeks, but are there agents who will just pass because they can't review that quickly?Two weeks is still the standard. And agents not having time anyway isn’t a new thing. We have to look at what we have currently on going and evaluate at the point the offer comes in if our bandwidth will allow time to consider. And sometimes we have no choice but to step aside
Literary Agent
E. Edmond Tucker @etuckerwrites
@annmrose What kind of info do you like to see in the about-the-author section of a query letter?I love to know why an author was moved to write the book or their personal connections to the story.
Literary Agent
Sarah M. Anderson @SarahMAnderson1
@annmrose If 1-2 agents have the full, do you still send out new queries? Thanks for your time (as always)/sorry for your elliptical time.Yes. Keep going until you have an offer. Or at least that is how I would do it. You can do whatever you are comfortable with ❤️
Literary Agent
BRCloth @brclothwrites
@annmrose What types of marketing do agents have over small pubs or self published authors? I see so many saying even if they get an agent they would still have to do most the marketing themselves. Is this true?An agent’s job is to sell the book to a publisher. An agent’s job is not to market the book. Marketing is done through the publisher.
Literary Agent
K. Latham 26K/80K @Niyrak
@annmrose Does the presence of aliens in a MS make it SciFi ???Without any other context here the quick answer is yes
Literary Agent
Jen Riggs Querying!! @Riggsywrites
@kcornett_agent Hi! Is it more impactful to define the racial diversity of the MC's (I have 3) or list out their unique powers (i.e. balance, awareness, calm etc)? I only have room for one or the other in my pitch! Thank you :)Without reading, that’s hard to say—as the author, I’d suggest asking yourself what’s the most important aspect of the story, and go with that! Good luck! 🎉
Literary Agent
Jon Smith @jonsmith_author
@kcornett_agent What's your take on using prologues? - there seem to be some very strong opinions about the topic (prologue as in a 'cold open' rather than a fifty page info-dump back-story)Yes, I’ve seen a lot of chatter lately about prologues. As I see it, if it’s not setting a scene, framing the narrative, or hooking me in some way that drives the story forward, then I’d suggest nixing it. But, as always, other agents might feel differently! 😬
Literary Agent
steph is querying TSOIT ❤️🔥 🇧🇷 @ryanthisisurgf
@kcornett_agent What’re your recommendations on starting a career as a lit agent? Mentorships, internships, etc (:Def apply for internships! Most agencies now offer in-person + remote. You’d have a really good start if you were able to land two internships 👍🏼 Make as many connections as you can and ALWAYS send hand-written thank you cards to anyone who has helped you in your journey!